New CBO Score! "Skinny Repeal"- 16 mm Lose Health Insurance. Raises Premiums by 20% w/Updates

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Wednesday July 26, 2017 · 4:39 PM PDT

2017/07/26 · 16:39

WASHINGTON - JANUARY 26: The Congressional Budget Office made copies of its Budget and Economic Outlook for FY 2010 to 2020 available to reporters and the public January 26, 2010 in Washington, DC. The CBO's latest estimates see a $1.35 trillion deficit for the current budget year, dropping to $980 billion next year only if a host of tax cuts enacted under President George W. Bush are allowed to expire at the end of the year. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

This is a breaking news diary. A senior Democratic aide says the “skinny repeal” has a CBO score. And you guessed it, millions lose coverage, and insurance premiums spike under this “light” version of Trumpcare.

CBO just scored the Ã¢ÂÂskinny repealÃ¢ÂÂ bill. 16M Americans would lose insurance + 20% spike in premiums, per senior Dem aide
— Jennifer Bendery (@jbendery) July 26, 2017

Will add more to this post as events warrant so check this space. Jacoby below has an interesting question about whether this is an across-the-board spike or ACA exchange plan spike. No idea honestly. TomP speculates it is the market place plans, but will eventually impact everyone. But see Senator Schumer’s tweet below.

Andy Slavitt is also begging health care reporters to find the secret deals the Republicans are brokering to the conference committee. The Skinny Bill will very likely get meaner:

2- Commitments have been made to Rand Paul & others on special conference deals.

Health care reporters-- please help uncover them.
— Andy Slavitt (@ASlavitt) July 26, 2017

We need these deals to see the light of day ASAP.

And not even insurers like “skinny repeal”

Insurers slam "skinny" repeal https://t.co/5SKzznC85M via @WSJ
— Topher Spiro (@TopherSpiro) July 26, 2017

The more they go to the drawing board, the worse Republicans make Trumpcare look. Remember to call your Senators and say “no” to the skinny repeal and no to secret side deals.

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Monday July 24, 2017 · 6:16 PM PDT

2017/07/24 · 18:16

This is a short diary.

Look forward to returning to Senate tomorrow to continue work on health care reform, defense bill & #RussiaSanctions https://t.co/VQBtovnwF1
— John McCain (@SenJohnMcCain) July 25, 2017

But there it is folks. They must be close to 50.

Will McCain keep his promises?

One thing just worth noting: wasn't many days ago that McCain called on his colleagues to return to "regular order" on health care.
— MJ Lee (@mj_lee) July 25, 2017

Last week McCain called for hearings and regular order but if he votes yes on the MTP he didn't actually mean it.
— Christopher Hayes (@chrislhayes) July 25, 2017

Or will he follow his governor?

This is big: Gov. Ducey opposes the 3-year phaseout of Medicaid expansion and the extreme cap on Medicaid funding.https://t.co/f6pdhqj3RN https://t.co/KT8C9AAEoI
— Topher Spiro (@TopherSpiro) July 22, 2017

Or will one of his final acts in a long and storied career to be to take away health care from millions?

Please call, fax, or visit your Republican Senators tomorrow morning. We are at Defcon 1. I edited the title because I don’t want people to quit at this news. We need to unleash a roar across the country. If you were too focused on Spicer or Kushner, you now know where you need to be tomorrow morning. Folks, there are disabled children that depend on you to fight right now. With all you got.

A final edit:

At this point, we have no way of knowing how the vote will go tomorrow. I do not think anyone does. What we do know is that if we do not fight, they will win. So FIGHT.

Alert! Murkowski and Capito now receiving more pro Obamacare repeal calls than nos say Republicans

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Saturday July 22, 2017 · 9:52 AM PDT

2017/07/22 · 09:52

Screen-Shot-2017-06-13-at-12.00.59-PM.png

Topher Spiro from the Center for American Progress Gives us this update:

Ã°ÂÂÂ¨ ALERT: We're hearing from Republican sources that calls into Capito and Murkowski recently swung from anti-repeal to pro-repeal.
— Topher Spiro (@TopherSpiro) July 22, 2017

Indeed, there must be some movement in West Virginia as Donald Trump is going to hold an event there to put further pressure on Capito to get her vote.

Trump is visiting Capito in WV to threaten her. Will she remember that she doesn't want to hurt people? https://t.co/UuMEqXohpR
— Topher Spiro (@TopherSpiro) July 22, 2017

Action is needed now across the country as pro-repeal forces are mobilizing.

Sam Wang from Princeton gives us needed numbers. Please use them if you are a constituent.

Contact Capito (WV) 304-347-5372, 202-224-6472https://t.co/dV6nMcd0f7
Murkowski (AK) (907) 271-3735 (907) 456-0233https://t.co/4nhYyl1dsc https://t.co/lbDpNw96W3
— Sam Wang (@SamWangPhD) July 22, 2017

Remember that the Parliamentarian’s ruling that defunding Planned Parenthood is impermissible in the current version of the law, Murkowski potentially has cover to vote in favor of a motion to proceed (although how this impacts conservatives we will see).

Andy Slavitt who ran Medicare, Medicaid, and the ACA for President Obama states that Republicans are meeting this weekend to hash out final differences

1- Senate, WH, and GOP govs are busy this weekend working on TCare deals.

Will tweet later if you want to follow.
— Andy Slavitt (@ASlavitt) July 22, 2017

Folks, it ain’t over till it’s over.

If you live in West Virginia or Alaska, please, we need your phone calls immediately. If you live in states with Republican Senators wherever in the country do not let up one inch. The prorepeal forces are just starting to mobilize and Trump realizes now he needs to use the bully pulpit of the Presidency.

We need action now! You see how it works when we work together! Call your Senators!

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Tuesday June 27, 2017 · 2:39 PM PDT

2017/06/27 · 14:39

Trump is working the phones on these Senators.

Early on in the TrumpCare fight, the Indivisible Team launched a web site known as the The Trump Care Ten. This included ten Republican Senators to target from the following states:

(1/2) Alaska: Senators Murkowski and Sullivan.

(3) Arizona: Senator Flake.

(4) Arkansas: Senator Cotton.

(5) Louisiana: Senator Cassidy.

(6) Colorado: Senator Gardner.

(7) West Virginia: Senator Moore Capito.

(8) Maine: Senator Collins.

(9) Ohio: Senator Portman.

(10) Nevada: Senator Heller.

Out of these ten, from what I can see, Senators Murkowski, Moore Capito, Collins, Portman, and Heller have come out against the bill. I’ve marked them in bold.

We do have reports today of another defector:

(11) Kansas: Senator Jerry Moran.

We also have right wing defectors:

(12) Kentucky: Senator Rand Paul.

(13) Texas: Senator Ted Cruz.

(14) Wisconsin: Senator Ron Johnson.

(15) Utah: Senator Mike Lee.

Finally we have some new undecideds:

(16) Florida — Senator Marco Rubio.

(17/18) Nebraska — Senators Ben Sasse and Deb Fischer.

(19) Iowa — Joni Earnst

(20) Iowa — Charles Grassley.

As you can see, there is safety in numbers and we have a lot of new targets that did not even appear to exist in Democratic groups initial estimates (for example Kansas!). Of course, some of these Senators are attacking from the right, but we still need to put pressure on them in their home constituencies.

Furthermore, Cassidy and Moran have town halls on 30 June and 6 July respectively in Louisiana and Kansas, I believe, which is a great way to make your voice heard.

We have to keep the heat on the TrumpCare Twenty, this week and over the 4th of July Weekend.

#HellerVoteYes is Being Promoted on Twitter by SuperPac. Update*2: Dems now use #HellerVoteNo.

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Saturday June 24, 2017 · 11:05 AM PDT

2017/06/24 · 11:05

Is it all smiles with Senator Heller and the Republican Party

This leads me to two questions:

(1) Where are the Democratic Groups promoting ads on social media as prominently this weekend with “Moore-CapitoVoteNo”? Why is it that the Republicans are playing hardball but our leadership at the DNC is yet again silent on this pivotal weekend? Do we only spend money on campaigns or do we care about issues the party stands for too?

(2) Further, if Senator Heller is getting attacked by the right wing, we’d be more than happy for you to caucus with us, Senator. You’d probably have more power as an independent conservative Democrat who caucuses with the Democrats. That’s who they seem to listen to in the party leadership.

So Kossacks, can you help remind Dean Heller should be with his State and with his people and not with a right wing super-PAC? Can you flood social media this weekend as well? Can we put some heat on some other Senators?

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Wednesday May 03, 2017 · 5:35 PM PDT

2017/05/03 · 17:35

This is going to be a short diary. As you know, a vote is scheduled for Thursday for the new TrumpCare bill that destroys protections for people with pre-existing conditions. It is being voted on without a scoring by the Congressional Budget Office; in the face of massive skepticism by experts; and voter resistance.

A rally at the Capitol is being called on tomorrow for 12:00 pm. It is being hosted by MoveOn and Americans Against Trump. Here is the Facebook link:

Rally Against TrumpCare at the US Capitol, Thursday 4 May, 12:00 pm.

I am not affiliated with the Rally, but I support the message. Oh, and what is a tocsin you ask? It is the bells that rang in Paris to call the people to protect the democratic revolution against an assault on their rights. This bill is an assault on the civil rights protections of every individual who has had an illness. We have to fight. Time to show up.

Trump's New CIA Deputy Director ran torture 'black sites' under Bush/Cheney

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Thursday February 02, 2017 · 8:33 PM PST

2017/02/02 · 20:33

This is what you get for confirming Donald Trump’s ‘uncontroversial’ nominees on domestic security.

Let the Intercept take it away:

IN MAY, 2013, the Washington Post’s Greg Miller reported that the head of the CIA’s clandestine service was being shifted out of that position as a result of “a management shake-up” by then-Director John Brennan. As Miller documented, this official – whom the paper did not name because she was a covert agent at the time – was centrally involved in the worst abuses of the CIA’s Bush-era torture regime.

As Miller put it, she was “directly involved in its controversial interrogation program” and had an “extensive role” in torturing detainees. Even more troubling, she “had run a secret prison in Thailand” – part of the CIA’s network of “black sites” – “where two detainees were subjected to waterboarding and other harsh techniques.” The Senate Intelligence Committee’s report on torture also detailed the central role she played in the particularly gruesome torture of detainee Abu Zubaydah.

Beyond all that, she played a vital role in the destruction of interrogation videotapes that showed the torture of detainees both at the black site she ran and other secret agency locations. The concealment of those interrogation tapes, which violated both multiple court orders as well the demands of the 9/11 Commission and the advice of White House lawyers, was condemned as “obstruction” by Commission Chairs Lee Hamilton and Thomas Keane. A special prosecutor and Grand Jury investigated those actions but ultimately chose not to prosecute.

That CIA official’s name whose torture activities the Post described is Gina Haspel. Today, as BuzzFeed’s Jason Leopold noted, CIA Director Mike Pompeo announced that Haspel was selected by Trump to be Deputy Director of the CIA

Torture and obstruction of justice has not been punished but rewarded. But this is a multi-administration failure — the Bush administration for implementing the torture regime post 9/11; the Obama administration for failing to get rid of agents who were complicit in torture; and now the Trump administration for promoting them to the highest levels of the Government.

The United States has to look at itself closely. After a decade, it is still rewarding those who violated U.S. and international law. Trump may just be a symptom of the United States post-9/11, not the disease within the body politic.

Media: It is time to ask the White House for Steve Bannon.

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Sunday January 29, 2017 · 8:34 AM PST

2017/01/29 · 08:34

This week has been a shocking one regarding the Trump administration’s executive orders. To defend them, the White House asked Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, White House Counsellor Kellyanne Conway, and Press Secretary Sean Spicer to go on the Sunday talk shows to defend them. Yet despite him telling the media to 'keep its mouth shut', Steve Bannon was nowhere to be seen. Talk about profiles in courage.

Indeed, it appears that Priebus/Conway/Spicer are not the prime movers on policy at the Trump White House. Steve Bannon has been upgraded to the the National Security Council by Executive Order. Steve Bannon reportedly overruled the Department of Homeland Security to deny green card holders from seven Muslim majority countries entrance to the United States in defiance of law and precedent. The White House communications team cannot even manage to say on Holocaust Remembrance Day that Jews faced genocide and condemn anti-Semitism. Yet Steve Bannon escapes even the most basic media scrutiny.

So I have a short message for the media: tell Trump’s team that if they want to appear on your show in the future they have to send you Steve Bannon. If you do not get an interview with Bannon, tell them Priebus, Conway or Spicer are insufficient. Make the request and let us know if the White House rejects it. Let us see whether the Trump White House and Steve Bannon are willing to stand by their true beliefs in public. The fact that Steve Bannon refuses to take questions, when his colleagues will is a real story.

Breaking from CBS News: Government of Iraq considers banning Americans in response to Trump

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Saturday January 28, 2017 · 2:36 PM PST

2017/01/28 · 14:36

Apologies for the short diary but CBS News is reporting that the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq is warning that the Government of Iraq is threatening to ban all US passport holders from the country. From a CBS Correspondent on Twitter:

CBS News: US AMB to Iraq has warned Trump Adm the Iraqi Government is considering banning all American passport holders entry to the country

This would obviously devastate the United States’ fight against the Islamic State in Iraq during a crucial period during the siege of Mosul. It would stop humanitarian aid to those suffering most from ISIL atrocities. The President is wrecking alliances and making the United States less safe. We are putting our soldiers currently in Iraq at direct risk because of Steve Bannon.

Every Democrat in Congress needs to work together to revoke this order by legislation. There can be no standing on the sidelines.

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Thursday December 01, 2016 · 8:59 AM PST

2016/12/01 · 08:59

President Obama signing the Affordable Care Act

The Associated Press reports a new Kaiser Family Foundation Poll that shows only around 1 in 4 Americans want to repeal Obamacare completely:

Only about one in four Americans wants President-elect Donald Trump to entirely repeal his predecessor's health care law that extended coverage to millions, a new poll has found.

But strikingly, the poll found a crash in Republican support to repeal Obamacare since the election:

While 52 percent of Republicans say they want the law completely repealed, that share is down from 69 percent just last month, before the election. And more Republicans now say they want the law "scaled back" under the new president and GOP Congress, with that share more than doubling from 11 percent before the election to 24 percent after.

The electorate is now balking at the Trump-Ryan-Price repeal plans as more people are recognizing the reality of what repeal would mean. Repeal would demolish Obamacare’s guaranteed coverage for persons with pre-existing conditions, coverage of children on parents’ health plans until age 26, and health care subsidies to make health care more affordable.

So why is your action needed now? We need to ensure that every Senator and Congressional representative knows the result of this new poll, especially if you live in a State or district with a Republican Senator or Representative. They need to confront the reality that they do not have the support of their general public and are increasingly losing the support of their own party for complete repeal of the Affordable Care Act.

Would you make that phone call today to let them know, respectfully, of this new poll? It’s a very simple and easy way to make a difference.

Here is a sample script:

Good morning/afternoon. I am a constituent wishing to leave an opinion for the Senator/Congressman/woman. I wanted to bring to your Office’s attention a new poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation that shows that merely 1 in 4 Americans wants a complete repeal of Obamacare. The poll also shows that since the election, even among Republicans, support for complete repeal of Obamacare has dropped 17 percent. I would ask you to please review its findings. News articles about the poll are freely available online published by the Associated Press.

I also wanted to add that I strongly support Obamacare and its protections. I do not support repeal or replacement of Obamacare or any phaseout of Medicare. People’s lives depend on these programs. Thank you.

The U.S. Congressional Switchboard is 1.202.224.3131. We need to fight for every inch to protect American’s rights in this new environment and this is one very easy way we can. Join me in making that phone call.

Breaking: GOP sets out timeline to end Medicare; repeal ACA

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Thursday November 17, 2016 · 9:57 AM PST

2016/11/17 · 09:57

From Lauren Fox of Talking Points Memo:

Rep. Tom Price (R-GA), the chairman of the budget committee, told reporters on Thursday that Republicans are eyeing major changes to Medicare in 2017.

Price, who is being floated as a possible Health and Human Services Secretary in the next administration, said that he expects Republican in the House to move on Medicare reforms "six to eight months" into the Trump administration.

They have their marching orders. And it appears they want to privatize Medicare and repeal the Affordable Care Act through budget reconciliation to get around the Senate filibuster. Democrats need to be prepared. If you are feeling powerless after the election result, it is time to call your Senator or Representative and say “no” to this process. The Republicans aren’t shell shocked. Neither should you be.

Update: I changed the headline to convey more accurately Paul Ryan and Tom Price’s goal on this.

Also a helpful comment by Captain America, who notes that Talking Points Memo is keeping a list of where your Congressional representatives stand on this issue. When you make your calls they would love to have updates. That said, even if your representative is listed by Talking Points Memo already, you should still share your views! Don’t disappoint the Captain!

Update 2: I heard the President-elect loves rallies. And I know a lot of our people are out on the street protesting right now looking for direction and leadership. Maybe we need an issue-based rally on this issue with some of our progressive voices in 2017? Something the media will have to cover. Something the President-elect will have to tweet a response to.

Pelosi Quit on Me

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Thursday January 21, 2010 · 9:13 AM PST

2010/01/21 · 09:13

I have not written a diary in many years, but hearing the news that the House Speaker says she does not have the votes to pass the Senate health care reform package prompted me to start writing one. You have probably already seen the diaries and Talking Points Memo's thoughts on Pelosi's comments are here. Pelosi's statements mean that she is letting the most important domestic legislative bill of my lifetime fail. We cannot let her get away with what is craven cowardice in the face of one bad election. No attempt to spin her words or add nuance to what she has just said will take away the fact that the Democratic Congressional leadership has quit on you and on me.

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New CBO Score! "Skinny Repeal"- 16 mm Lose Health Insurance. Raises Premiums by 20% w/Updates

Breaking: McCain to Return to Senate Tuesday to Vote on Motion to Proceed for Trumpcare. No Despair!

Alert! Murkowski and Capito now receiving more pro Obamacare repeal calls than nos say Republicans

The TrumpCare 10? Now, we have the TrumpCare 20. Time to apply pressure!

#HellerVoteYes is Being Promoted on Twitter by SuperPac. Update*2: Dems now use #HellerVoteNo.

Rally at the U.S. Capitol against TrumpCare Called for at Noon Thursday. The Tocsin is Sounding.

Trump's New CIA Deputy Director ran torture 'black sites' under Bush/Cheney

Media: It is time to ask the White House for Steve Bannon.

Breaking from CBS News: Government of Iraq considers banning Americans in response to Trump

New poll: Republican support to repeal Obamacare is crashing. Your action is needed now!

Breaking: GOP sets out timeline to end Medicare; repeal ACA

Pelosi Quit on Me